Transfer or interrogation of materials by carrier and receiving devices moving independently and simultaneously on multiple axes

ABSTRACT

Material transfer/interrogation devices (e.g. liquid handling workstations) have been designed in the past for transferring material from a source to a destination location or for interrogating a material at a location, where the locations remain fixed. The invention provides methods and apparatuses for transferring or interrogating materials by one or more carrier devices to one or more receiving devices, where the carrier and receiving devices move independently and simultaneously on multiple axes. In some embodiments, one or more of the carrier and receiving devices can move along an X, Z, Y, and Theta axis, which allows the source and destination locations to rotate and translate relative to each other. Due to this rotation and translation, containers can be positioned to minimize the distance traveled between a pick location from the source and a place location on the destination, greatly increasing the speed at which material transfer can occur.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/636,631, filed on Sep. 21, 2012, which is a National Stage Entry ofPCT/US2011/29096, filed on Mar. 18, 2011, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/316,236, filed Mar. 22, 2010. All ofthe foregoing are incorporated by reference in their entirety for allpurposes, including any appendices and attachments thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to apparatuses and methods for transferring orinterrogating materials by carrier devices to receiving devices, wherethe carrier and receiving devices move independently and simultaneouslyon multiple axes.

Description of the Related Art

Laboratory automation has revolutionized the way experiments areconducted in research and clinical laboratories. Advances in labautomation have taken once laborious, manual processes for preparing,measuring, and moving around samples, and transformed these into rapid,high-throughput mechanisms for experimentation, having an enormousimpact on various fields, including genomics and drug discovery.Laboratory automation has become essential for efficient,high-throughput analysis of materials in a short period of time.

Even with the advances made in laboratory automation, automationmechanisms have not kept up with the current drive to analyze andproduce data more rapidly. Material transfer in automated laboratoryprocesses is well recognized as the bottleneck unit operation thatlimits process throughput. Small delays in each of the steps ofautomated material transfer can lead to substantial overall delays inassays, greatly limiting the number of assays that can be performed perday. On an automation system, the delay in transferring material from alocation in one microplate to a location on the opposite side of anothermicroplate may seem small at first. However, when the goal is to screenthousands of samples a day, every second or fraction of a second delayin the process can be crucial. Since the containers or microplates areat fixed locations during a particular assay (except during plateloading and unloading onto the machine), prior art approaches providelittle or no way to effectively minimize this travel distance betweenplates or locations in plates. Further, in many systems that transfersamples between microplates via pipettor tips on an automated pipettearm, those tips move as a single unit with the arm, further limiting theflexibility of the system. If there is only one sample to be aspiratedor dispensed at a particular location, the other tips remain inactive,waiting for the one tip to complete its aspirating/dispensing step.Similarly, when one tip must be washed or removed and replaced with anew tip, the other tips attached to the arm must also be positioned atthe washing/replacement location, potentially sitting idle during thethis process. Every moment that a tip sits idle or waits for completionof a process involving another tip limits the overall speed at which anexperiment can be conducted.

Some laboratory systems have developed mechanisms to attempt to gainback some lost time. The BECKMAN COULTER BIOMEK® FX, HAMILTON STAR™, andTECAN EVO™ systems have a carrier arm that can move independently ofanother carrier arm to individually access a deck of destination plates,but multiple tips are still linked together on each carrier arm. Also,the deck of destination plates remains stationary during the transferprocess (except for plate loading and unloading). In the TTP LABTECHMOSQUITO®, a single arm/pipettor tip can move independently to pick andchoose from individual wells in plates, but the system does notindependently move multiple arms/tips. In the AGILENT TECHNOLOGIESVERTICAL PIPETTING STATION™, the arm with multiple pipettor tips movesindependently of the plates, but the plates are only moved vertically onplate shelves. The plates cannot be translated or rotated along a platedeck, and the tips cannot access more than one plate at a time since thesystem relies on the vertically-aligned plate shelves.

Laboratory automation still has not overcome important bottlenecks, suchas those associated with having multiple tips/channels tied together,with having plates at fixed locations on a deck, among others.Currently, there are no existing laboratory automation systems havingdecoupled linear and rotary axes of movement for the carrier andreceiving devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is an apparatus for transfer of material from a sourcelocation to a destination location. The apparatus includes a hub alongwith carrier devices moveably connected to the hub for transferring thematerial from the source location to the destination location. A carriermovement mechanism associated with the hub and the carrier devices movesthe carrier devices independently from each other along at least twoaxes. The apparatus also includes at least one receiving device moveablyconnected to the hub. The receiving device holds a container havingeither the source location, the destination location, or both. Areceiver movement mechanism associated with the hub and the receivingdevice moves the receiving device independently from the carrier devicesalong at least two axes. At least one of the axes of the receivingdevice is a rotation axis. The receiving devices are moved to positionthe container so that the container can provide the material to orreceive the material from one of the carrier devices.

Another embodiment of the invention is a method for transfer of materialfrom a source location to a destination location. The method includes astep of moving at least one receiving device holding a container thatcontains the source location. The receiving device is moved along atleast two axes, where at least one of the axes is a rotation axis. Thereceiving device is moved to position the source location of thecontainer for the transfer of the material. The method also includes astep of moving one of at least two carrier devices independently fromthe other carrier device along at least two axes. The carrier device ismoved to position the carrier device for acquiring the material from thecontainer, and the carrier device then acquires the material from thesource location. The method additionally includes a step of moving atleast one receiving device holding a container having the destinationlocation. The receiving device is moved along at least two axes, whereat least one of the axes is a rotation axis. The receiving device ismoved to position the destination location for receiving the materialfrom the carrier arm. The method also comprises a step of moving thecarrier device having acquired the material along at least two axes toposition the carrier device for depositing the material in thecontainer, and the carrier device then deposits the material at thedestination location.

A further embodiment is an apparatus for interrogation of a material ata location including a hub and carrier devices moveably connected to thehub, where each carrier device has a tip at the distal end that is asensor for interrogating the material (e.g., collecting measurements,images, etc.). A carrier movement mechanism associated with the hub andthe carrier devices moves the carrier devices independently from eachother along at least two axes. At least one receiving device is moveablyconnected to the hub for holding a container having the material at thelocation. A receiver movement mechanism associated with the hub and thereceiving device moves the receiving device independently from thecarrier devices along at least two axes (including at least one arotation axis) to position the container to provide the material forinterrogation.

An additional embodiment is a method for interrogation of a material ata location. The method includes a step of moving at least one receivingdevice holding a container having the location along at least two axes,where at least one is a rotation axis, to position the container toprovide the material for interrogation. The method also includes movingone of at least two carrier devices independently from the other carrierdevices along at least two axes to position a tip of the carrier deviceinto proximity to the material in the container, where the tip is asensor for interrogating the material. The method further includesinterrogating the material, via the tip of the carrier device, at thelocation.

In a further embodiment, the carrier devices move along the X axis andthe Z axis. In an additional embodiment, the receiving devices movealong the Y axis and the Theta axis. In a further embodiment, thereceiving devices can translate and rotate along a deck or platform ofthe apparatus independently from and simultaneously with each other andwith the carrier devices.

Since the carrier devices and receiving devices can move independently,the apparatus and method can minimize the distance between the sourceand destination locations, or interrogation locations, during alaboratory experiment to reduce the amount of time it takes to executetransfer or interrogation tasks. This approach can be applied tomultiple source and destination locations and can include multiplerobotic arms and tips executing the pick and place tasks simultaneouslywith the goal of minimizing the amount of time it takes to transfermaterial between source and destination locations. The small amount oftime saved with each material transfer between locations leads to asignificant amount of time saved overall, and a substantial increase inthe speed and efficiency at which experiments can be conducted using theinvention. Furthermore, the infinite degrees of rotation of thereceiving devices along the Theta axis allows the carrier devices toaccess the receiving devices in either the landscape or portraitorientation, allows off-center access in a microwell, among otheradvantages, all of which serve to further increase throughput.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, and accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 depicts an isometric view of the apparatus for material transferor interrogation, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A depicts a top view of the apparatus for material transfer orinterrogation, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B depicts two microplates lined up side-by-side, as they might bewith standard laboratory automation during a material transferoperation.

FIG. 2C depicts two microplates positioned next to each other after onehas been rotated by the laboratory automation of the invention during amaterial transfer or interrogation operation, according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 2D depicts a microplate as it might be positioned with standardlaboratory automation during a material transfer so the picks ortransfers in different columns occur sequentially as the carrier travelsalong the X axis.

FIG. 2E depicts a microplate that has been rotated via the laboratoryautomation of the invention to align wells in different columnsvertically to allow picks or transfer to occur simultaneously in asingle step, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2F depicts a microplate that has been rotated via the automation ofthe invention to align wells to the fixed spacing of the carrierdevices, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 depicts an isometric view of the apparatus for material transferor interrogation including the receiver movement mechanism and carriermovement mechanism exposed, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 depicts an isometric view of the receiver movement mechanismseparate from the apparatus, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 depicts a front view of the apparatus for material transfer orinterrogation including the receiver movement mechanism and carriermovement mechanism exposed, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram providing a method for material transfer,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram providing the method for movement the receivingdevices of FIG. 6 in more detail, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram providing the method for movement of thecarrier devices for material transfer of FIG. 6 in more detail,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram providing a method for material interrogation,according to an embodiment of the invention.

The skilled artisan will understand that the drawings are forillustration purposes only. The drawings are not intended to limit thescope of the present teachings in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Material Transfer/Interrogation Apparatus

FIG. 1 depicts an isometric view of the apparatus 100 for interrogationof material or transfer of material from a source location to adestination location, according to an embodiment of the invention. Theapparatus includes a hub 101 to which the mobile components of theapparatus 100 attach. The hub 101 has a hub upper portion 112 positionedat the top of the hub 101 that is supported by two hub side supports110, 111. The side supports 110, 111 connect to a base 114 of the hub101. FIG. 1 illustrates one design of the hub 101, though a variety ofother designs are possible. For example, the hub 101 may not contain allof the components mentioned, or they may be positioned differently inthe apparatus 100, differently sized or shaped, and so forth.

A deck support 120 rests on the base 114 of the hub 101. The decksupport 120 supports a deck 118 or platform on which the experimentalanalysis occurs. The deck 120 shown in FIG. 1 includes three tracks 122that run along the length of the deck 118. While three tracks 122 areshown for the purposes of illustration, the number of tracks 122 canvary across different designs of the apparatus 100, from one or two tomultiple tracks (e.g., at least 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, or anothernumber of tracks as desired). Similarly, the deck 118 and deck support120 can be positioned in manners other than those shown in FIG. 1. Forexample, it could be rotated 90 degrees or could be positioned at anangle relative to the base. The tracks 122 can also be otherwisearranged in the deck 118 (e.g., running perpendicular to the directionshown in the figures, running at an angle, and so forth), and differenttracks 122 can be positioned in different ways along the deck. Inaddition, the tracks do not have to be arranged in a straight lineacross the deck 118, but could be curved or irregularly shaped.

Three receiving devices 103 are shown in FIG. 1. The receiving devices103 are moveably connected to the hub 101 for holding a container (notshown in FIG. 1) having a location to be interrogated or to/from which amaterial transfer can occur. Where a material transfer operation isbeing performed, the container includes at least one of the sourcelocation and the destination location. The source location is a locationin the container that will be held by the receiving device 103 fromwhich material will be retrieved or picked up. The destination locationis a location in the container at which material will be deposited orreleased. Where a material interrogation operation is being performed,the container includes a location having material to be analyzed orabout which data will be collected. Each receiving device 103 can hold acontainer, though they do not all have to hold containers at the sametime. The source location and destination location can be in twoseparate containers or in the same container. While three receivingdevices 103 are shown in FIG. 1 for the purposes of illustration, thenumber of receiving devices 103 can vary across different designs of theapparatus 100, from one or two to multiple receiving devices 103 (e.g.,at least 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, or another number of devices asdesired). FIG. 1 illustrates one receiving device associated with eachone of the tracks 122 in the deck 118, though the apparatus 100 couldalso include more than one receiving device 103 along a track 122, suchthat there is more than one row of receiving devices 103 (e.g., a secondrow of receiving devices 103 positioned parallel and adjacent to theillustrated row of receiving devices 103).

Beneath the tracks 122 and contained within the deck support is thereceiver movement mechanism 108. The receiver movement mechanism 108 isassociated with the hub 101 and with the receiving devices 103 formoving the receiving devices 103 along the tracks 122. The receivermovement mechanism 108 can translate each of the receiving devices 103by sliding it along the length of the track 122 associated with thatreceiving device 103. In some embodiments, the receiver movementmechanism 108 is divided into multiple sub-mechanisms such that eachreceiving device 103 has a separate sub-mechanism associated with itthat moves around its respective receiving device 103.

The receiver movement mechanism 108 can also rotate each receivingdevice 103 by rotation about an axis normal to the plane of the deck108, such as, e.g., by spinning it around in a circle parallel to thetrack 122. The receiving devices 103 thus have at least two axes ofmotion. The devices 103 can move along the Y axis and can also movealong a rotational or Theta axis. In some embodiments, the receivermovement mechanism 108 can rotate the receiving devices 103 from 0degrees to 360 degrees in either direction relative to the carrierdevices 102. Each of the receiving devices 103 can be movedindependently from and simultaneous with the other receiving devices103, including translating each device 103 independently and rotatingeach device 103 independently. Any receiving device 103 can be at anygiven position along the Y axis or along the Theta axis at any giventime, and different devices 103 can be at different positions. Themovement of each receiving device 103 allows that device 103, and thecontainer (not shown in FIG. 1) it is holding, to be positioned so thatmaterial contained by the container can be transferred between locationswithin the container, can be transferred to a location in anothercontainer, or can be interrogated. In some embodiments, the devices 103can move along any or all of a Y axis, a Theta axis, an X axis, and a Zaxis.

Two carrier devices 102 are illustrated in FIG. 1. These carrier devices102 are moveably connected to the hub 101 for transferring the materialfrom the source location to the destination location or forinterrogating a material at a location. While two carrier devices 102are shown in FIG. 1 for the purposes of illustration, the number ofcarrier devices 102 can vary across different designs of the apparatus100, from one to multiple carrier devices 102 (e.g., at least 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, or another number of devices as desired). Eachcarrier device 102 has a transfer probe 124 shown at the left side ofthe carrier device in FIG. 1. Each carrier device 102 can also have atip 126 attached the transfer probe 124. The tip 126 can be nonremovablyfixed to the transfer probe 124 or can be removable and possiblydisposable. In one embodiment, the carrier device 102 is a pipettor,where the transfer probe 124 controls the aspiration or dispensing of aliquid. In this embodiment, the tip 126 can be a pipette tip that can beremoved and disposed of after each use or after a certain number ofuses. In another embodiment, the tip 126 is a sensor for performing aninterrogation of material at a location.

Where the tip 126 is a sensor for interrogating the material, the tip126 can collect various different types of data, measure physicalcharacteristics, record images or perform another analysis on thematerial. For example, the tip can be various different types ofsensors, including an electrochemical sensor, a temperature sensor, acapacitance sensor, a biosensor, a surface plasmon resonance sensor, aconductivity sensor, a calorimeter, a microspectrophotometer sensor, anionizing radiation sensor, a voltage sensor, a humidity sensor, anelectric field sensor, an oxygen sensor, a humidity sensor, an opticalsensor, a camera, among others. Where the tip 126 is a sensor, insteadof transferring material from locations, the tip 126 can receiveinstructions to collect information about the material, such asdetermining the pH of the material in one or more locations (e.g., wellsin a microtiter plate), measure the volume of the material at thelocation, record an image via a camera, and so forth. If there aremultiple carrier devices 102 and receiving devices 103, the carrierdevices 102 can travel around to various locations in various receivingdevice 103 and collect particular data about each. In some embodiments,the tip 126 can both interrogate the material and perform a transfer ofthe material to another location. For example, the tip 126 might firstmeasure a temperature and biological property of a material at alocation, and may then transfer a portion of that material to anotherlocation. If that other location includes a different material, the tip126 could collect further data about the mixture, how the componentsinteract, etc.

A carrier movement mechanism 106 is associated with the hub and with theof carrier devices 102 for moving the carrier devices 102. In oneembodiment, the carrier movement mechanism 106 is housed in the hubupper portion 112, and is associated with each of the carrier devices102. In FIG. 1, a portion of the carrier movement mechanism 106 forms apart of each of the carrier devices 102. For example, some or all of thecomponents at the right of each carrier device 102 in FIG. 1 can form apart of the carrier movement mechanism 106. In some embodiments, thecarrier movement mechanism 106 is divided into multiple sub-mechanismssuch that each carrier device 102 has a separate sub-mechanismassociated with it that moves around its respective carrier device 102.The carrier movement mechanism 106 can translate each carrier device 102by sliding it along the length of hub upper portion 112, so that thedevice 102 moves in line with the hub upper portion 112 andperpendicular to the tracks 122 below. In some embodiments, the carriermovement mechanism 106 slides the carrier devices 102 along a trackcontained in the hub upper portion 102. There can be multiple suchtracks and each carrier device 102 can slide along its respective track.

In addition to moving the carrier device along the length of the hubupper portion 112, the carrier movement mechanism 106 can also translatethe carrier device 102 up and down relative to the hub upper portion112. Again, the carrier movement mechanism 106 can be divided intomultiple submechanisms for translating the carrier device 102 up anddown. The carrier devices 102 thus have at least two axes of motion. Insome embodiments, the axes are orthogonal to each other. In theembodiment of FIG. 1, the devices 102 can move along the X axis and canalso move along the Z axis. In this manner, the carrier device 102 canbe moved by the carrier movement mechanism 106 back and forth fromreceiving device 103 to receiving device 103, and up and down, away fromand toward the receiving device 103. The movement along the Z axisallows the tip 126 of the carrier device 102 to be brought intoproximity to a container held by the receiving device 103 to insert thetip 126 into the container for withdrawing or depositing material. Thecarrier movement mechanism 106 can move each of the carrier devices 102independently from and simultaneously with the other carrier devices 102and the receiving devices 103, including translating each device 102independently across the length of the deck 118 and translating eachdevice 102 independently toward and away from the deck 118. Any carrierdevice 102 can be at any given position along the X axis or along the Zaxis at any given time, and different devices 102 can be at differentpositions. In the example of FIG. 1, the receiving devices 103 movealong the Y axis orthogonal to the X and Z axes of movement of thecarrier devices 102, and the devices 103 also move along a Theta axiscoincident with Z axis of the carrier devices 102. In some embodiments,the devices 102 can move along any or all of an X axis, a Z axis, a Yaxis, and a Theta axis.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, there is shown a top view of the apparatus 100for material transfer or interrogation, according to an embodiment ofthe invention. FIG. 2A illustrates a top view of the hub upper portion112 and the hub side support 110 seen in FIG. 1, along with the base 114on which is positioned the deck 118. The tracks 122 in the deck 118 arealso shown from the top view, including the receiving devices 103associated with each of the tracks. FIG. 2A further illustrates acontainer 202 on one of the receiving devices 103. In FIG. 2A, thecontainer 202 shown is a microtiter plate or microplate with multiplewells. The container 202 can be a 96-, 384-1536-, 3456-well microtiterplate, or a plate containing some other number of wells. The container202 can also be another type of container, such as a vial, a tube, amicroscope slide, a microarray, a wash container, a pipette tip holder,a Petri dish, and other types of containers.

Various different forms of material can be contained within thecontainer 202, such as a solid, a liquid, a gel, among others. Thematerial can also be various different material types, including geneticmaterial, protein, various organisms (e.g., yeast, bacteria, etc.),reagents and solutions, beads, combinatorial libraries, gels, and soforth. Further, the apparatus 100 can be used for a variety ofprocedures, experiments, assays, etc., such as high throughput drugscreening, compound management, toxicology, dissolution testing,immunoassays, clinical diagnostics, in vitro diagnostics, veterinarydiagnostics, nucleic acid extraction, gel electrophoresis, genotyping,DNA extraction, PCR applications, genomics, proteomics, cellomics, cellbiology, metabolomics, molecular biology, in vitro diagnostics,toxicology, microarray spotting, forensics, food analysis, colonypicking, gel cutting, solubility assays, among a variety of others.

Though only one container 202 is illustrated in FIG. 2A, each receivingdevice 103 can hold a container. The containers 202 held by eachreceiving device 103 can be the same or different containers. Thecontainers 202 can also be the same type, but have different numbers oflocations for holding material (e.g., one 384-well microplate and one1536-well microplate). The carrier devices 102 can transfer materialbetween or collect information in any of these containers. The carrierdevices 102 can transfer material between locations in the container 202(e.g., from well A1 to well B2 in a Microplate A) or between locationsin two different containers 202 (e.g., from well C3 in Microplate A towell D5 in Microplate B). FIG. 2A further illustrates a load and unloadplatform 204. The receiving devices 103 can slide along the deck 118 tothe platform 204 at which a container loader can place containers 202onto the receiving devices 103 and remove containers 202 from thereceiving devices 103, as needed. Containers 202 can be loaded/unloadedrapidly (e.g., at least every 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 seconds percontainer).

Since the receiving devices 103 can both translate and rotate along thedeck 118, the containers 202 can be positioned as needed for materialtransfer or interrogation. As a first example, there could be anexperiment in which sample from well A1 (source location) of Microplate1 is to be transferred to well A12 (destination location) of Microplate2. FIG. 2B illustrates these two microplates lined up side-by-side asthey might be on a laboratory automation system without the features ofapparatus 100 that allow the plates to be rotated to position the sourceand destination locations as close together as possible. To retrieve asample from well A1 of Microplate 1 and transfer it to well A12 ofMicroplate 2, the carrier mechanism must travel along two axes, asillustrated by the dashed line. FIG. 2C illustrates the same twomicroplates rotated as they might be on the apparatus 100. The receivermovement mechanism 108 can rotate either microplate (or bothmicroplates) in either direction to arrange well A12 of Microplate 2 asclose to well A1 of Microplate 1 as possible. In this case, to retrievethe sample from well A1 of Microplate 1 and transfer it to well A12 ofMicroplate 2, the carrier mechanism only needs to travel along one axisfrom the source to the destination location, a shorter distance than inFIG. 2B as illustrated by the dashed line.

As a second example, there could be an experiment in which samples fromvarious wells across a diagonal of a microplate need to be picked ortransferred. FIG. 2D depicts such a microplate as it might be positionedwith standard laboratory automation during a material transfer operationso the picks or transfers, or interrogations, in different columns occursequentially as the carrier travels along the X axis. The carrier has totravel up and down the X axis multiple times to reach all four wells.FIG. 2E depicts a microplate that has been rotated via the laboratoryautomation of the invention to align wells in different columnsvertically to allow picks or transfer to occur simultaneously in asingle step. The carrier device 102 only has to travel along the X axisonce to reach all four wells since the plate has been rotated to line upthe wells according to the direction of travel of the carrier device102.

As a third example, where two or more of the carrier devices 102 are ata fixed spacing, the rotation can effectively change the distancebetween the wells to match the carrier device 102 spacing. FIG. 2Fdepicts a microplate that has been rotated to allow simultaneous accessto the microplate wells.

Though this rotational repositioning of the well(s) in the microplatesof FIGS. 2C, 2E and 2F may only save a few seconds or fractions ofseconds of time, over the course of a lengthy experiment or a day'sworth of experiments, this can save a significant amount of time. Wherethere are multiple microplates, they can all be rotating in differentdirections simultaneously to minimize travel distance for the carrierdevices 102 as samples are transferred. In addition, the microplates canbe rotating while they are being translated across the deck 118 andwhile the carrier device 102 is retrieving/releasing/interrogatingsample to further save time so the carrier device 102 does not have towait until the rotation is finished. The tip can also beretrieving/depositing/interrogating sample even if it is off-center at alocation or in a well, allowing more flexibility in sampleretrieval/interrogation and allowing the carrier device 120 toretrieve/interrogate samples even from very small, densely-arrangedlocations.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an isometric view of theapparatus 100 for material transfer or interrogation including thereceiver movement mechanism 108 and carrier movement mechanism 106exposed, according to an embodiment of the invention. The carriermovement mechanism 106 comprises a variety of components, includingtracks 306, 308 and sliders 302, 304. Slider 304 is movably attached toa track 308 of the hub and connected to the carrier device. The slider304 slides the carrier device 102 along track 308 to translate thedevices 102 from inside the hub side support 110 across the deck 118 andback. The slider 304 moves the carrier devices 102 along the X axis toposition the carrier devices 102 in proximity to the receiving devices103. There can be multiple tracks 308 and each carrier device 102 canslide along its respective track directly next to the other carrierdevices 102. The carrier movement mechanism 106 also includes slider 302connected to the track 306 of the carrier device 102 and attached to thetransfer probe 124. This slider 302 slides the transfer probe 124 of thecarrier device 102 up and down along track 306, and so translates thetransfer probe 124 closer to and away from the receiving devices 103.The slider 302 moves the transfer probe 124 along a Z axis so that thetip 126 of the transfer probe 124 can be moved down to the container 202to access the source or destination location. FIG. 3 illustrates justone design for a carrier movement mechanism 106, but other designs orconfigurations of the components are also possible.

Since there are multiple carrier devices 102 moving independently andsimultaneously, the tips 126 can hit multiple locations across multiplereceiving devices 103 at a time (e.g., at least 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, etc. points in space at atime). Further, any of the tips 126 can be at any state of theaspiration process (e.g., changing tips, washing tips, aspirating,dispensing, traveling, interrogating, etc.). Thus, one tip 126 is neverimpeding another tip 126 from finishing a cycle since they are notdependent on each other. In some embodiments, the apparatus 100 can domultiple thousands of fully automated (without requiring usermanipulation) material transfers (or material interrogations) a day(e.g., at least 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 7,000, 8,000, 9,000,10,000, 13,000, 15,000, 17,000, 20,000, 25,000, 30,000, 35,000, 40,000,45,000, 50,000 in an eight-hour time period, or any numbers in betweenthese numbers and any ranges including or between these numbers). Theuser can thus run an entire experiment in a day.

The transfer probe 124 can be constructed in a variety of ways. Forexample, the transfer probe 124 can be an aspirator and a dispenser foraspirating/dispensing liquid to/from the container 202. Theaspirator/dispenser can be a piston-type aspirator/dispenser, an airdisplacement aspirator/dispenser, an acoustic aspirator/dispenser, andso forth. The aspirator can also include multiple pin tool components.In one embodiment, the transfer probe 124 comprises a liquidaspirator/dispenser constructed similar to a pipettor device, and thetransfer probe 124 has a removable or fixed pipette tip 126 foraspirating the liquid from a well in a first microtiter plate anddispensing the liquid into a well in a second microtiter plate.

FIG. 3 also illustrates the receiver movement mechanism 108 that washidden under the deck 118 and deck support 120 in FIG. 1. The receivingdevices 103 slide along tracks 310 and 312 to translate across the deck118. A rotator 314 rotates the receiving devices 103 from 0 to 360degrees in either direction.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an isometric view of thereceiver movement mechanism 108 separate from the apparatus 100,according to an embodiment of the invention. Tracks 310, 312 are againillustrated, and a slider 402 slides the receiving device 103 along thetracks 310, 312 to translate the receiving device 103 across the deck118 of the apparatus 100 along the Y axis and into proximity to thecarrier devices 102. A post 410 is located between the tracks 310, 312,and the post 410 runs through the slider 402 as it slides along. Asupport 412 having multiple legs stabilizes the receiving device 103above the rotator 314 so the rotator 314 can rotate the receiving device103 around as it translates on the tracks 310, 312. FIGS. 3 and 4illustrate just one design for a receiver movement mechanism 108, butother designs or configurations of the components are also possible.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a front view of the apparatusfor material transfer or interrogation including the receiver movementmechanism 108 and carrier movement mechanism 106 exposed, according toan embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 further illustrates a connector502 for connecting the receiver movement mechanism 108, under the deck118 through an opening or track 122 in the deck to the receiving device103 above the deck 118 on one of the tracks 112. FIG. 5 also illustrateshow the rotator 314 connects to the receiving device 103 via theconnector 502 for rotating the device.

The apparatus 100 or certain components of the apparatus 100 can beoperated by a computer system including a microcontroller and anapplication for managing the components and for designing experiments. Auser can use an interface associated with the computer system to enterin the instructions for the experiment to be performed, and design theexperiment according to the user's needs. For example, the user canspecify the types of containers 202 being used (e.g., a 384-well or1536-well microplate), which locations (e.g., wells) in the containers202 contain the sample to be analyzed, what reagents in which locationsshould be combined with other reagents, what type of assay is to beperformed, specific time settings needed for the assay, particularinterrogations to perform, etc. The computer system can also apply avarious algorithms to design the experiment to ensure the mostefficiency and speed. For example, the experiment can be organized sothat no carrier device 102 is sitting idle other than for brief periodsof time. Similarly, containers can be constantly loaded and unloadedfrom receiving devices 103, and the receiving devices 103 can beconstantly translating and rotating around into the most convenientposition for the carrier device 102 to access the proper location in thecontainer 202. The computer system can provide instructions to theapparatus 100 accordingly, so that the appropriate receiving devices 103move to the correct locations on the deck 118 when needed and theappropriate carrier devices 102 move as needed to transfer samplesbetween locations in the receiving devices 103.

The apparatus 100 is further highly customizable to include the numberof carrier devices 102 and the number of receiving devices 103 desiredby the user of the apparatus 100. Similarly, the components of theapparatus 100 can be modified in shape or size, or rearranged in theapparatus 100 as desired by the user, as needed to better fit into aparticular laboratory design or with other machinery in the laboratory,and so forth. In addition, multiple apparatuses 100 can be arrangedadjacent to one another and operate in conjunction to conduct multipledifferent experiments or assays.

FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a possible design for the apparatus. However, oneof ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize that a wide varietyof other designs are also possible. Thus, FIGS. 1-5 are provided asillustrations of possible embodiments of the claimed invention.

Material Transfer/Interrogation Methods

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a flow diagram providing amethod for material transfer, according to an embodiment of theinvention. It should be understood that these steps are illustrativeonly. Different embodiments of the invention may perform the illustratedsteps in different orders, omit certain steps, and/or perform additionalsteps not shown in FIG. 6 (the same is true for FIGS. 7, 8, and 9). Themethod can start and end at various points in the material transferprocess, and typically is a continuous process with multiple stepsoccurring simultaneously, so FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9 provide only an exampleof one ordering of method steps. In addition, the method can beperformed using apparatus 100 or another apparatus capable of performingthe steps provided below.

As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes a step of receiving 602instructions for performing an experiment involving transferring amaterial from a source location to a destination location. Theinstructions can be received from a microcontroller or computer systemmanaging the method of material transfer. Based on these instructions,various devices 102, 103 are moved around to transfer the material.Specifically, the method further includes moving 604 at least onereceiving device 103 (e.g., a first receiving device) holding acontainer 202 (e.g., a first container) having the source location alongat least two axes (e.g., a Y axis and a Theta axis). The device 103 ismoved 604 to properly position the source location for the transfer ofthe material. In addition, the method includes moving 606 a carrierdevice 102 independently from one or more other carrier devices 102along at least two axes to position the carrier device 102 for acquiringthe material. In one embodiment, the at least two axes of the carrierdevices are orthogonal to each other (e.g., an X axis and a Z axis).

The method further includes acquiring 608 the material (e.g., aspiratinga liquid, etc.), via the carrier device 102, from the source location inthe container 202 held by the receiving device 103. The method alsoincludes moving 610 at least one receiving device 103 holding acontainer that has the destination location. This can be the same, firstreceiving device/container moved 604 or a different, second receivingdevice/second container. The device 103 can be moved along at least twoaxes (e.g., Y and Theta axis), to position the destination location forreceiving the material. Additionally, the method includes moving 612 thecarrier device 102 that acquired the material along at least two axes toposition the carrier device 102 for depositing the material, anddepositing 614 the material (e.g., dispensing a liquid) at thedestination location. The method can then start over with receiving 602new instructions or moving 604, 606 devices 102, 103 to continue theexperiment.

In the various moving steps 604, 606, 610, 612, the devices 102, 103 canbe moved independently of and simultaneously with one another. Further,the steps of acquiring 608 and depositing 614 the material can alsooccur while the device 103 is rotating. Each step of acquiring 608 anddepositing 614 material can occur rapidly (e.g., a fraction of a second,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 seconds or less, etc., or any ranges including orbetween these numbers (e.g., 5 seconds or less), or any numbers orfractional numbers in between, etc.). In addition, steps 602-614 can beconsidered a single transfer, and in some cases, the method includesperforming at least 50,000 transfers (e.g., 50,000, 55,000, 60,000,65,000, 70,000, 75,000, 80,000, 85,000, 90,000, 95,000, 100,000,150,000, 200,000 transfers, etc., or any ranges including or betweenthese numbers, or any numbers or fractional numbers in between or above)in eight hours or less (e.g., 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 hour(s), 50minutes, 25 minutes, etc., or any ranges including or between thesenumbers, or any numbers or fractional numbers in between or below).Further, any of steps 604-614 can be repeated, multiple times,independently and simultaneously at various locations with variousdevices 102, 103.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating themoving 606, 612 of the carrier devices 102 in more detail, according toan embodiment of the invention. The method comprises sliding 702 thecarrier device 102 along an X axis to position the carrier device 102 inproximity to the receiving device 103/location in device 103. The methodthen includes sliding 704 the transfer probe 124 of the carrier device102 along a Z axis down toward the receiving device 103. Steps 702 and704 may or may not occur simultaneously. The method next comprisesacquiring or depositing 706 the material in the receiving device 103.The method further includes sliding 708 the transfer probe 124 along theZ axis up away from the receiving device 103, and sliding 710 thecarrier device 102 along the X axis away from the receiving device103/location in device 103. Steps 708 and 710 may or may not occursimultaneously. If the carrier device 102 is to move to anotherreceiving device 103 to continue the experimental run, steps 702 or 704can be repeated to reposition the carrier device 102 for the nextaction. If the experiment is finished, the method can include eitherwashing 712 the fixed tip 126 or detaching 714 a removable tip andattaching 716 a new tip. Any of steps 702-716 can occur for one carrierdevice 102 simultaneous with others of these steps being performed byother carrier devices 102

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating themoving 602, 610 of the receiving devices 103 in more detail, accordingto an embodiment of the invention. The method comprises sliding 802 afirst and second receiving device 103 along the tracks in the deck 118to move the receiving devices 103 along a Y axis toward one of thecarrier devices 102. The method further includes rotating 804 the firstreceiving device 103 on the track from 0 degrees to 360 degrees toposition the source location (in the container held by the firstreceiving device 103) directly under the tip 126 of the carrier device102 for providing the material. The method also includes rotating 806the second receiving device 103 on the track to position the destinationlocation (in the container held by the second receiving device 103)directly under the tip 126 of one of the carrier devices 102 forreceiving the material. In some cases, only one of the receiving devices103 may need rotation, so one of steps 804 and 806 may be skipped. Inaddition, the method includes providing/receiving 808 the materialto/from the receiving devices 103. If one or both of the receivingdevice 103 have completed the task for that experiment, that device 103can then slide 810 along the tracks in the deck 118 away from thecarrier devices 102. If either or both of the receiving devices 103 areto move to another location to continue the experimental run, any ofsteps 802-808 can be repeated. Any of rotating steps 804, 806 andsliding steps 802, 808 may occur simultaneously.

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a flow diagram providing amethod for material interrogation, according to an embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 9, the method includes a step of receiving902 instructions for performing an experiment involving interrogating orcollecting data about a material from a location in a container. Theinstructions can be received from a microcontroller or computer systemmanaging the method of material interrogation. Based on theseinstructions, the carrier device 102 and receiving device 103 are movedaround to interrogate the material. Specifically, the method furtherincludes moving 904 at least one receiving device 103 holding acontainer 202 having the location along at least two axes (e.g., a Yaxis and a Theta axis). The moving 904 step can include sliding thereceiving device 103 along a track to translate the receiving device 103toward or away from the carrier device 102 and rotating the device 103on the track from 0 degrees to 360 degrees to position the location inthe container directly under the tip of the carrier device. In addition,the method includes moving 906 a carrier device 102 independently fromone or more other carrier devices 102 along at least two axes toposition the carrier device 102 for interrogating the material. In oneembodiment, the at least two axes of the carrier devices are orthogonalto each other (e.g., an X axis and a Z axis). The moving 906 step caninclude sliding the device 102 along an X axis to position it inproximity to the receiving device 103 and sliding the tip of the device102 along a Z axis toward or away from the receiving device 103 tointerrogate the material. Furthermore, the method includes interrogating908 the material, which can include recording physical characteristicsor taking an image of the material, among other analyses previouslydescribed. Any of steps of FIG. 9 can then be repeated as desired.

While the present teachings are described in conjunction with variousembodiments, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited tosuch embodiments. On the contrary, the present teachings encompassvarious alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as will beappreciated by those of skill in the art. Most of the words used in thisspecification have the meaning that would be attributed to those wordsby one skilled in the art. Words specifically defined in thespecification have the meaning provided in the context of the presentteachings as a whole, and as are typically understood by those skilledin the art. In the event that a conflict arises between anart-understood definition of a word or phrase and a definition of theword or phrase as specifically taught in this specification, thespecification shall control. It must be noted that, as used in thespecification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and“the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: moving a first receivingdevice holding a first container having a source location along at leasttwo first axes to position the source location for acquisition of amaterial, the at least two first axes including a first rotation axisand a first translation axis perpendicular to the first rotation axis;moving, simultaneously with moving the first receiving device, a secondreceiving device holding a second container having a destinationlocation along at least two second axes to position the destinationlocation for receiving the material, the at least two second axesincluding a second rotation axis and a second translation axisperpendicular to the second rotation axis; moving, simultaneously withmoving the first receiving device, a carrier device along at least twothird axes to position the carrier device for acquiring the materialfrom the source location, the at least two third axes including a thirdtranslation axis and a fourth translation axis; acquiring the material,via the carrier device, from the source location; moving the carrierdevice having acquired the material along the at least two third axes toposition the carrier device for depositing the material; and depositingthe material acquired by the carrier device to the destination location.2. The method of claim 1, wherein moving the carrier device havingacquired the material along the at least two third axes to position thecarrier device for depositing the material comprises moving the carrierdevice across a distance shorter than a width of the first container andshorter than a width of the second container.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein acquiring the material, via the carrier device, from the sourcelocation, moving the carrier device having acquired the material alongthe at least two third axes to position the carrier device fordepositing the material, and depositing the material acquired by thecarrier device to the destination location are completed within twoseconds.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method steps togethercomprise a material transfer, and further comprising performing at least50,000 material transfers within eight hours.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving attachment of a removable tip to a distalend of the carrier device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstreceiving device and the second receiving device are each coupled to areceiver movement mechanism, and wherein the receiver movement mechanismis configured to rotate the first receiving device and the secondreceiving device between 0 degrees and 360 degrees in a counterclockwiseor a clockwise direction relative to the carrier device.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the material is a liquid, wherein the firstcontainer is a first microtiter plate, wherein the second container is asecond microtiter plate, wherein a liquid aspirator is coupled to thecarrier device, wherein a liquid dispenser is coupled to the carrierdevice, wherein acquiring the material further comprises aspirating theliquid from the first microtiter plate, and wherein depositing thematerial comprises dispensing the liquid into the second microtiterplate.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising washing,simultaneously with depositing the material acquired by the carrierdevice to the destination location, a tip of a second carrier device,wherein the carrier device and the second carrier device are eachcoupled to a carrier movement mechanism.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the carrier device includes at least one of: a piston-typeaspirator/dispenser, an air displacement aspirator/dispenser, anacoustic aspirator/dispenser, a pin tool, and an extraction tool. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier device includes at least oneof: an electrochemical sensor, a temperature sensor, a capacitancesensor, a biosensor, a surface plasmon resonance sensor, a conductivitysensor, a calorimeter, a microspectrophotometer sensor, an ionizingradiation sensor, a voltage sensor, a humidity sensor, an electric fieldsensor, an oxygen sensor, a humidity sensor, an optical sensor, and acamera.
 11. A method comprising: moving a first receiving device holdinga first container having a first material along at least two first axesto position the first receiving device for accessing of the firstmaterial, the at least two first axes including a first rotation axisand a first translation axis perpendicular to the first rotation axis;moving, simultaneously with moving the first receiving device, a secondreceiving device holding a second container having a second materialalong at least two second axes to position the second receiving devicefor accessing of the second material, the at least two second axesincluding a second rotation axis and a second translation axisperpendicular to the second rotation axis; moving a first carrier devicealong at least two third axes to position the first carrier device foraccessing of the first material, the at least two third axes including athird translation axis and a fourth translation axis; accessing thefirst material using the first carrier device; moving, simultaneouslywith moving the first carrier device, a second carrier device along atleast two fourth axes to position the second carrier device foraccessing of the second material, the at least two fourth axes includinga fifth translation axis and a sixth translation axis; and accessing,simultaneously with accessing the first material using the first carrierdevice, the second material using the second carrier device.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein accessing the first material using the firstcarrier device further comprises measuring one or more physicalcharacteristics of the first material.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein accessing the first material using the first carrier devicefurther comprises capturing an image of the first material.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising receiving attachment of aremovable tip to a distal end of each of the first carrier device andthe second carrier device.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein accessingthe first material using the first carrier device and accessing thesecond material using the second carrier device is for transfer of thefirst material and the second material.
 16. The method of claim 11,wherein accessing the first material using the first carrier device andaccessing the second material using the second carrier device is forinterrogation of the first material and the second material.
 17. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the first receiving device and the secondreceiving device are each coupled to a receiver movement mechanism, andwherein the receiver movement mechanism is configured to rotate thefirst receiving device and the second receiving device each between 0degrees and 360 degrees in a counterclockwise or a clockwise directionrelative to the first carrier device or the second carrier device. 18.The method of claim 11, further comprising washing, simultaneously withaccessing the first material using the first carrier device, a tip of athird carrier device, wherein the first carrier device, the secondcarrier device, and the third carrier device are each coupled to acarrier movement mechanism.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein thefirst carrier device and the second carrier device each include at leastone of: a piston-type aspirator/dispenser, an air displacementaspirator/dispenser, an acoustic aspirator/dispenser, a pin tool, and anextraction tool.
 20. The method of claim 11, wherein the first carrierdevice and the second carrier device each include at least one of: anelectrochemical sensor, a temperature sensor, a capacitance sensor, abiosensor, a surface plasmon resonance sensor, a conductivity sensor, acalorimeter, a microspectrophotometer sensor, an ionizing radiationsensor, a voltage sensor, a humidity sensor, an electric field sensor,an oxygen sensor, a humidity sensor, an optical sensor, and a camera.